District boasts above-average dyslexia detection and response program

In a presentation to the Board of Education Monday night, Director of Special Services Dr. Kim Turner detailed the process in which Ridgewood Public Schools tests kids for Dyslexia.

According to Turner, the testing process, and the way in which Ridgewood ensures students are being properly aided in the classroom, goes well beyond what the State of New Jersey requires by law.

New Jersey State law requires that each general education teacher grades K-3, Special Education Teachers, Basic Skills Teachers, English as a Second Language Teachers, Speech-Language Specialists, and Reading Specialists undergo two hours of training each year in order to be properly educated in the detection and treatment of apparent learning disabilities.

In Ridgewood though, the training process and staff equipped to help goes far beyond these requirements. Turner cites that during this past year, General Education Teachers K-2 were sent out for an additional 30 hours of multi-sensory reading through the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education.

In addition, Ridgewood Public Schools has an agreement in place with Fairleigh Dickinson University in which Ridgewood will serve as a “host site” for their two-year Orton-Gillingham training program. Orton-Gillingham is a specific approach developed to help those who show signs of learning disabilities at a young age.

“Our teachers will become multi-sensory reading certified,” Turner said. “This certification is a more intense graduate school coursework and certification. This will give us a strong cohort of teachers in the district that will have a more intense level of training.”

In addition to the extra training, the BOE has also approved the hiring of more personnel to compliment that staff already put in place. Just after the BOE meeting, in a closed session the board discussed the acceptance of a multi-sensory reading specialist.

“I am very excited with the person we hired,” Turner said. “She has a phenomenal background and a lot of great experiences and will be another resource in the district for our teaching staff.”

Board Vice President James Morgan was quick to laud the efforts the district has made to ensure students are cared for properly.

“We have made a commitment to add 20 additional staff trained in Orton-Gillngham,” Morgan said.

These additional hours and specialists are all beyond what the New Jersey State Law mandates from districts.

“That’s well beyond what the state requires in this area,” Morgan said. “These specialists are not in the state plan. Many districts don’t have this.”

The current testing and detection system used by the district is tiered to reflect the level of need a child exhibits. Students K-2 are screened annually with students that show certain “indicators” given a more comprehensive assessment. From there, students are placed in either tier one, two, or three and monitored by the Intervention and Referral Services. Students in tier one are likely to see additional classroom help, while students in tier two or likely to see an added level of intervention with additional work outside of the classroom. Turner described tier three as a more intensive tier two, with more classroom pullouts and more one-on-one instruction.